There is an old cautionary tale. It is about a Dog Food company. The CEO is raging at the various department heads. They have the best packaging, the best jingle, the best commercials. Why isn’t the product selling?
The answer put forth by a hesitant man. The dogs don’t like it.
DeSantis set out to solidify his position with the Base. He picked a war on Woke. He got every law he wanted to stop the Woke. He even got a war with Disney to show the Woke who was boss.
Now the results are in, and this time it isn’t the Dogs who don’t like it. The voters just don’t like it.
These are average people. Democrats were barely represented with a single person in the Focus Group. These were Republicans and Independents who leaned Republican.
On the surface it looks like DeSantis would be just who they wanted. From the article.
- Seven of the 13 voters said that they'd ditch Biden in favor of "a generic, middle-aged, white, male, Republican governor with mainstream conservative views," when asked about that hypothetical matchup by the moderator.
They would be happy to vote for someone other than Biden. And everyone knows that is true. Hell I say Biden is a bumbling old fool. But he won the Presidency because the alternative was apparently even more distasteful to the voters.
DeSantis didn’t manage to secure his position with the Base, and he did succeed in alienating too many voters. The lesson to others is don’t play up the Fringe.